Rev. Tim Matton-Johnson

Rev. Tim Matton-Johnson Tasmanian is of Aboriginal heritage and proud of it. He lives on the ancestral country of the Moomairremener people.

Now retired, Tim previously was in placement with UAICC Tasmania, along with several other UCA placements in the VIC/TAS Synod over the past 35 years.

Tim reflects on what he's doing now:

"For some years I have reflected on the question, 'How might one live on Country in a 21st century way?' This has involved much learning about the 60,000 plus years civilisation on this continent before 'Captain Cook'. The last 250 years has changed the context enormously. How then, in a practical sense, can millennia of learning guide life in the present context, particularly in the light of climate change?

We live on a half-hectare rural residential block. Our buildings have been built with energy efficiency in mind. Wastewater is treated on-site, stormwater harvested for irrigation and solar panels assist the transition to clean energy. We are also in the process of finding out how many trees and shrubs we can grow to both act as carbon sinks and increase the ecological diversity of the small slice of country for which we are responsible.

Relational responsibility for all our connections in the human world and beyond to all creation is fundamental to my identity as an Aboriginal person and a Christian. I’m not retired from that!"